Sheriff must be transparent

We don't believe the departure of the No. 2 person at the Richland County Sheriff's Department was a simple resignation.

If it had been, both Sheriff Steve Sheldon and Maj. Dale Fortney would be talking about it publicly and answering questions. Instead, Fortney left the office abruptly, quickly moved out of the house he was renting from Sheldon, and refuses public comment.

Sheldon announced the resignation in a brief written statement, but also refuses to answer questions about it. The formal announcement came more than a day after Fortney left and within hours after Sheldon consulted with an attorney.

Fortney may have technically resigned, but probably not because he wanted to and only because it benefits him to resign instead of getting fired.

So, what prompted this sudden split and why isn't anyone willing to discuss it? It seems likely the two men had a sharp disagreement over how to manage the department and the details of that disagreement might embarrass one or both of the men.

The problem for Sheldon is he is accountable to the voters who put him in office and who pay for his operation. He owes the public a thorough explanation.

Fortney's departure comes on the heels of a public disagreement between Sheldon's department and the 10-county METRICH drug enforcement task force. Current and former METICH officials say the sheriff's department is wasting public money and creating potentially dangerous conflicts for police officers.

These officials are particularly concerned about the lack of communication on drug cases, saying separate police agencies could be working on the same case at the same time, possibly showing up simultaneously at drug raids.

Sheldon admitted the absence of timely communication, but said there is enough drug crime in the county for every police officer to stay busy. He is correct about the broad scope of the drug problem, but his lack of communication could get a police officer injured.

All of this suggests there are some odd things going on within the sheriff's department. Sheldon needs to get a grip on these issues and explain to the public exactly what is happening.

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Sheriff must be transparent

We don't believe the departure of the No. 2 person at the Richland County Sheriff's Department was a simple resignation.